Producer To Producer

PRODUCER TO
PRODUCER

A Step-By-Step Guide to

LOW-BUDGET INDEPENDENT FILM PRODUCING

MAUREEN A. RYAN

!"#$%&'()"&*&( +,-./#0"-1*

CONTENTS

FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii

HOW THIS BOOK WORKS AND WHOM IT IS FOR. . . xix

1) DEVELOPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Finding the Idea or Material. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Study Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Development Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Obtaining Rights to Underlying Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Screenplay Creation and Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Screenwriting Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Getting Feedback on the Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Script Doctors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Writer’s Guild of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Log Line — Don’t Leave Home Without It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Log Line Creation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Creating a Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Proposal Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
IMDB.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Creating a Pitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Producing a Trailer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Distribution Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Presales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Sales Agents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Deliverables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Development Wrap Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Final Checklist Before Deciding to Produce the Film. . . . . . . . . . 55

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viii P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

2) SCRIPT BREAKDOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Nuts and Bolts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Breakdown Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Breakdown for Red Flag Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Filling in the Breakdown Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Breakdown Analysis for Red Flag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Creating a Tentative Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
How Many Days to Shoot? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Final Analysis of Red Flag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Using the Breakdown to Adjust Your Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

3) BUDGETING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Budgeting Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Everything but the Kitchen Sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Budgeting Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Budget Breakdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Estimated Budget. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Spreadsheet Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Geography of the Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Top Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Creating the Estimated Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Detailed Line Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Labor considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Labor rates and Most Favored Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Sections A & B (line #1-50, #51-100) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Section C #101-113 Pre-Production/Scouting Expenses. . . . . 112
Section D #114-139 Location Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Section E #140-148 Props/Wardrobe/SFX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Section F #151-167 Studio Rental and Expenses . . . . . . . . . . 116
Section G #168-180 Set Construction Labor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Section H #181-192 Set Construction Materials . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Section I #193-210 Equipment Rental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Section J #211-217 Film Stock, Videotape Stock
and Digital Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Section K #218-226 Miscellaneous Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Section L #227-233 Creative Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Section M #234-270 Talent Fees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Section N #271-276 Talent Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Section P #277-322 Postproduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

CONTENTS ix

Cash Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Working Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Padding and Contingency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Budget Actualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Tax Resale Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Tax Incentives/Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

4) FUNDING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Pre-sales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Sales Agents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Equity Investors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Deferred Payment Deals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Union Signatory Film Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Other Funding Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Community Involvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
How to Ask for Donations and Discounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Fundraising Trailers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Find a Mentor or Executive Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Beware of Credit Cards as a Way of Funding Your

Film’s Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

5) CASTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Hiring a Casting Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Attaching an Actor or “Star” to Your Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Pay-or-Play Deal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Attaching Talent and Casting Without a Casting Director . . . . . 143
The Casting Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Auditions/Casting Sessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Callbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Extras Casting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Casting Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
To Be Union or Not to Be Union…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Union Paperwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

6) PREPRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Production Triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Need to Get the Money in the Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Preproduction Countdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Preproduction Countdown Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

x PRODUCER TO PRODUCER | RYAN

7) LOCATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Finding Locations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Create Location Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
The Specifics of Location Scouting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Location Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Check with Local Film Commissions for Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Alternatives to Hiring a Location Scout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Finalizing Location Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Negotiating the Deal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Back-up Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Paperwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Location Release Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
General Liability Insurance Certificate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Co-ops and Condos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Permits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Police/Fire/Sheriff’s Departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Tech Scout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Shoot-day Protocol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Run Through with Owner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Leave It Better Than You Found It. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Idiot Check. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
The Day After the Location Shoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Tax Incentive Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

8) LEGAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

It’s All About Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
It’s All About Liability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Breakdown of a Legal Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Legal Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
List of Agreements During Each Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Legal Corporate Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Never Sign Anything Without Proper Legal Advice . . . . . . . . . . 222
Your Lawyer Is an Extension of You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Attorney As Financier/Executive Producer/Producer’s Rep . . . . 224

9) INSURANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Why Do You Need Insurance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Common Insurance Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

CONTENTS xi

Completion Bond/Guaranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
How Do You Obtain Insurance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
How Insurance Brokers Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Certificate Issuance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Insurance Audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
What to Do When You Have a Claim?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Things You Should Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Never Go into Production Without Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

10) SCHEDULING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Script Breakdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Element Sheet Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Creating the Shooting Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Scheduling Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Scheduling Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Stripboard Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Day-Out-of-Days Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Scheduling each shoot day — how do you know

how long something will take to shoot? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Feed your crew every 6 hours and other union

regulations that affect the day’s schedule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Portrait of an Assistant Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Locking the Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

11) PRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

The night before your first day of principal photography. . . . . . 266
First Day of Principal Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Wrap Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Budget Actualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Second Day Disasters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Enemy of the Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Cigars and Fine Chocolates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

12) WRAP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Wrapping Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Lost/Missing/Damaged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Deposit Checks and Credit Card Authorizations . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

xii P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

Actualized Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Budget Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Petty Cash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Wrap Paperwork. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Wrap Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

13) POSTPRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Picking a Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
High Definition and Standard Definition Video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Camera Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Telecine/Color Correct/Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Types of Color Correct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Film-to-Tape vs. Tape-to-Tape Color Correct vs.

Digital Intermediate (DI) Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
CODEC Is King. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Postproduction Sample Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
How to Put Together a Postproduction Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Preplanning Is Essential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Deliverables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Editorial Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Work-in-Progress Screenings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

14) AUDIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Sound Recording During Principal Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
How to Get the Best Sound on Set. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Room Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Wild Sound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Audio Postproduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Building Audio Tracks/Sound Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Adding Sound Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Creating and Recording Foley Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Recording ADR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Laying in Music Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Sound Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Dolby Digital™, DTS™, or THX™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Layback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

CONTENTS xiii

15) MUSIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Creating a Music Soundtrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
What Rights Do You Need?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Putting in the License Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Music Rights Request Letter Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Negotiating for the Music Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Most Favored Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Out of Copyright or Public Domain Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Fair Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
E&O Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Blanket TV Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Music Cue Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Cease and Desist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
What Happens if You Can’t Find the Copyright Holder?. . . . . . . 340
Music Rights Clearance Person/Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Original Music Composition for Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Music Libraries and Royalty Free Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Music Supervisors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

16) ARCHIVE MATERIALS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .344

Archive and Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
Steps to Acquire and Use Archive in Your Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Archive Researcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Archive Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
National Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Fair Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Archive Usage and Negotiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
License Paperwork. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Cease and Desist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

17) MARKETING/PUBLICITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

Press Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Screeners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Online Social Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Media Outreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
How to Hire a Publicist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

xiv P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

IMDb.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

18) FILM FESTIVALS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Fee Waivers and Screening Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
Film Festival Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Film Festival Premieres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Oscar Eligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Other Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Film Festivals vs. Film Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
In or Out of Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
What to Expect from a Film Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
Posters, Postcards, and Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Technical Issues at Festivals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Jury and Audience Awards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

19) DISTRIBUTION/SALES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

Sales Agents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
International Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Theatrical/Television Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Home Video/VOD Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Deliverables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Self Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Future Distribution Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

20) WHAT’S NEXT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

FOREWORD

Maureen Ryan has been producing my films from the time of our very first
meeting in the spring of 1997. Our first project together was a daunting,
ambitious period film with no obvious commercial prospects and a tiny
budget provided by the BBC.

You’d have to be crazy to want to produce this film — it involved
elaborate historical recreations that needed to be filmed across all four
seasons, on location in Wisconsin. There were stunts with horses and
steam trains, hangings, shootings, and burnings. The script called for a
19th century mansion to be burned down. All of this was achieved —
and more — across a production that sprawled over two years on a
budget that was little more than a well-funded music video of the time. It
turned out that Maureen wasn’t crazy at all — she was just methodical,
resourceful, and bold. Looking back now, I still don’t know how we did
it. Or, rather, how she did it — though some of the answers can now be
found in this book.

The resulting film, Wisconsin Death Trip, premiered at the Telluride
and Venice Film Festivals and was theatrically released in the U.S. and
the UK. It even turned a small profit. Our collaborations have grown in
budget and scope, since then. We’ve worked together on documentaries
and features and have grown together in our experience of production.
Like all filmmakers we’ve never quite had the resources we wanted. The
genius of a great producer is to never let you feel that is a problem.

So, Maureen knows what she is talking about. In this book anyone
who’s involved — or wants to be involved — in film production, at any
level, will find answers to every question and pitfall a production gen-
erates. Like her productions, the book is clear, detailed, generous, and
inspiring.

— James Marsh, February 2010

xv

ACK NOW L E D GE M E N T S

A sincere thanks to all the talented students I’ve been blessed to work with
over the last decade. You constantly remind me of why I love what I do.
Especially my students at Columbia University’s School of the Arts Graduate
Film Program — I’ve learned more from you than you can imagine.

Thanks to Carole Dean for your constant support and encouragement
throughout the writing of this book. Your insights, weekly notes, and
intuition have been a steady beacon while I wrote draft after draft.

Thanks to all the contributors for their interviews and expert experi-
ence. You took the book to a whole other level with your contributions
— Ira Deutchman, Ben Odell, Christine Sadofsky, George Rush, Zach
Seivers, Paul Cotter, Dave Anaxagoras, Rick Siegel, and especially Sheila
Curran Dennin for the materials used in the case study.

My thanks to the directors I have had the pleasure of working with
and learning from over the last two decades — John Nathan, Michael
McNamara, James Marsh, Albert Maysles, Sheila Curran Dennin and Paul
Cotter. You all live the mantra “it’s all about the project” and I am grateful
to have been able to produce your work.

Thanks to my mentors. This is a tough industry and your example and
guidance made all the difference during the forks in the road — Marc Sarazin,
Jon Fontana, Lewis Cole, Annette Insdorf, Dan Kleinman and Ira Deutchman.

Thanks to my dear friend Sheila Curran Dennin — your writing tutori-
als made all the difference. A big thank you to my old friend Adam Sexton,
this book would not be what it is without your invaluable expertise and
guidance. My gratitude to my literary agent Jennifer Unter for all of your
help. Thanks to copy editor Arthur G. Insana — your invisible work
made this a better book indeed. Thanks to Michael Wiese and Ken Lee at
MWP — your support and hard work is much appreciated. Thank you to
research assistant Geoff Quan, designer Bill Morosi and cover artist John
Brennner. I also want to thank the staff at Le Grainne Café and Café 202
in NYC for keeping me hydrated and fed as I worked on the many drafts.

I want to thank all the crews I have had the honor to work with. Your dedi-
cation and commitment to the work is a moving thing to watch and be a part
of. Thanks for making my heart skip a beat every time I walk onto a film set.

Finally, thanks to my partner Rick. Your kind heart, great eye, and
constant love is a deep source of encouragement and inspiration.

xvi

INTRODUCTION

IT’S A HOT AUGUST afternoon some- Be passionate. Be serious.
where in Appleton, Wisconsin. Wake up.
The corset I’m wearing under
this Victorian-era peasant dress — Susan Sontag
is digging into my ribs. I and it are
filthy because I’m lying in a pit of
mud in a chicken coop on some god-
forsaken farm. Did I mention I’m in
rural Wisconsin? As I try to distract
myself from the pain and filth, I hear
the shout of “Action!” from the film
director who sits comfortably behind
the video monitor as the key grip and
production assistants begin pelting me
with potatoes. They actually are trying
to hit the wooden slat above my head
but they often miss and hit me instead.

Trying not to think about the
bruises that are beginning to form
on my limbs and back, I concentrate
on the very obvious question that I
should have asked about an hour ago,
“how the hell did I get myself into
this?” It’s too late now. There’s only
one answer — I’m producing a low-
budget film and we can’t afford any
more extras.

And the truth is, I wouldn’t want
to be anywhere else. Why? Because I
love what I do — I’m an independent
film producer.

xvii

xviii PRODUCER TO PRODUCER | RYAN

This book in your hands is about film producing. Every page is filled
with all the knowledge I think is essential to produce well. Because that’s
the goal here — to produce well.

Anyone can learn to make a budget, hire a crew, and take all the steps
necessary to produce a film and this book will teach you all of those
steps. The ultimate goal of this book is to teach you how to produce in a
way that gets the project completed on time and under budget, to teach
you how to stretch the precious dollar in the right places, but also how
to produce with integrity, decency, respect, and wit. I hope that’s what
makes this book different.

To me, that’s the prize. That’s what makes all the hard work worth-
while and that’s how it should always be. Nothing else will do. If that
appeals to you, then please read on.

By the way, my scene never made it to the final cut. But that’s ok,
that film was the first of five films I would make with that director —
the last one won an Academy Award. It’s the journey, not the glory, that
makes film producing so satisfying. It’s about jumping in and doing what
it takes. Even if it involves a Victorian dress and a chicken coop on some
farm in northern Wisconsin.

— Maureen Ryan, April 2010

HOW THIS BOOK WORKS
AND WHOM IT IS FOR

I’M ALWAYS ASKED “What does a What man needs is not a
Producer do?” My simple answer tensionless state but rather
is “They make the project the striving and struggling
HAPPEN.” Without a producer,
there isn’t a project. When I teach uni- for some goal worthy of
versity producing classes which focus him. What he needs is not
on no/low-budget filmmaking there is the discharge of tension at
always a directing student or two who any cost, but the call of a
say “I can’t afford a producer” and I potential meaning waiting
always say “You can’t afford not to
have one.” to be fulfilled by him.
— Victor Frankl
Producer to Producer teaches you
how to produce independent low-bud- xix
get productions — narrative features,
documentaries, and shorts. The prin-
ciples and steps involved are the same
whether it is for a six-day shoot or a
28-day schedule. If you are gathering
all the materials, cast, and crew for a
short film, you still need to follow all
the same rules and regulations as you
would for a feature-length film.

This book is put together in gen-
eral chronological order for the steps
to make a film. All aspects of film pro-
ducing are here and reflect, directly,
my specific background as a producer.
I came up through the production
ranks as a line producer so this book
will be grounded in that particular
perspective. I’m the type of person
who likes to make films and not just

xx P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

talk about making films. I find that often, if you can produce it for less
money, you can make it happen faster and easier. I’d rather do it and get
it done on less than waste time gathering up more resources or collect-
ing more money with strings attached. This book will take you through
all the steps to produce your film well — with creativity and finesse.

I think it’s helpful to define what a producer does and there are many
different kinds of producers with several different titles. Let’s go through
them here. The Producers Guild of America is a good resource for
information. Their website is www.producersguild.org. I’ve included a
summary based on their definitions for each title:

Executive Producer — the person who brings in financing for the
project or makes a significant contribution to the development of the
literary property.

Producer — the person who puts together various elements for the
project, such as purchasing the rights to underlying material, coming
up with the idea for the project, hiring a screenwriter, optioning and/or
purchasing a script, attaching actors (talent) to a film, hiring key depart-
ment heads, overseeing production and postproduction, and bringing in
financing.

Co-Producer — the person who is responsible for the logistics of the
production of the film or a particular aspect of the film.

Line Producer — the person who is responsible for the logistics of
the production, from preproduction through completion of production.

Associate Producer — the person responsible for one or more pro-
ducing functions delegated by the producer or co-producer.

Depending on your budget, your film may only have a few of these
positions, but the producing principles are the same.

Please note that in this book I will refer to any production (no matter
what format or genre) as a “film.” So many projects are shot on video,
but to simplify the grammar I’ll use the word “film” in a generic sense,
whether it was shot on, or completed in, film or video. I will refer to the
reader of this book as a producer. You may be a director, production
manager, screenwriter, filmmaker, or producer (or a combination of sev-
eral of these), but this book is for the producer or the producer in you.

In addition, this book is directed toward low-budget, independent pro-
ductions. There are other books out there that concentrate on Hollywood
and big-budget features. There also are lots of books dedicated to the
topics of development, finance, and distribution. This is not that. I will

HOW THIS BOOK WORKS AND WHOM IT IS FOR xxi

discuss those topics only insofar as they impact the low-budget side of
the spectrum of filmmaking. This book is for the low-budget, indepen-
dent filmmaker and I will assume, throughout the book, that you have
limited funds for your film and that the project’s ambitions go beyond
what those dollars can normally afford. I say “normally” because this
book will help you to stretch your dollars as far as humanly possible to
give you the highest production values at the lowest cost.

On the philosophical side, as a producer, I truly believe that all people
want to be a part of something that is bigger than themselves. People
like being a part of something special that inspires them — and that’s
what a good film does. And good film producing can provide that experi-
ence for all those associated with it. Often that experience is worth more
to someone than a paycheck. A good producer can do that and that’s
what I intend to do with this book.

Throughout each chapter there will be words in bold that I’ll define
along the way. At the end of each chapter there will be points that I wish
to highlight and you will find them under the Recap heading. And finally,
there is the www.ProducerToProducer.com website that will contain
tons of information that you can use, like downloadable documents,
essential production information and important links for you to refer to
when making your film.

So let’s get started.

For free downloadable production templates go to
www.mwp.com

Click Virtual Film School
Click Resources

and also
www.ProducerToProducer.com



CHAPTER 1

DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPMENT REFERS TO THE T here is a vitality, a
time period and resources life-force, an energy, a
it takes to bring an idea to quickening that is trans-
full maturation as a final lated through you into
script. Financing for the film also action. And because there
happens during this phase. Ideas can is only one of you in all
be completely original or be derived of time, this expression is
from underlying material — such unique. And if you block it,
as a novel, magazine article, comic it will never exist through
book, theater play, television show, any other medium and
Web series, or graphic novel. This be lost. The world will not
process involves the creative aspects have it. It is not your busi-
of writing and revising a screenplay, ness to determine how good
as well as the legal aspects of option- it is nor how valuable it is
ing or owning underlying material nor how it compares with
and procuring the proper releases others’ expressions. It is
and contracts. Simultaneously, you your business to keep it
are looking for and finalizing the yours clearly and directly,
financing, as well. Once you have to keep the channel open…
completed these steps, you will enter Above all else, keep the
the next one — preproduction. The
process from first idea/concept to channel open.
final distribution is usually anywhere
from two–five years for a feature. — Martha Graham
Some projects have an even longer
gestation period. The length of your
development period will impact your
overall schedule for producing your
film. Keep that in mind as you begin
the journey.

1

2 PRODUCER TO PRODUCER | RYAN

Finding the Idea or Material

So, with the knowledge of how long it will take you to create a project
from start to finish, the first thing you need to keep in mind is that you
need to LOVE the project. As the producer, it’s going to be in your life
for the rest of your life, so choose wisely. Make sure it’s a project you are
passionate about because there will be so many twists and turns on the
road to completion. It’s just too damn hard otherwise.

I really recommend taking some time to think about what excites you,
energizes you, holds your attention. Figure out what makes you laugh,
what’s your particular take on things. For documentaries, think about
what topic inspires you; what do you want to explore? It needs to sustain
you intellectually and emotionally for a long, hard time.

When deciding what film or films you want to produce, also consider
where this project fits in with your vision for your career. Is it in keeping
with where you want to be in five years? Is it a step forward in the right
direction or is it a path down another road that doesn’t lead to where you
ultimately want to go? Is it the perfect vehicle for you to get from where
you are now to where you want to be? When I decided to produce my
first feature documentary, Wisconsin Death Trip, I was line producing
country music videos and commercials in Nashville, Tennessee. I loved
the treatment for the film and believed in the project with all my heart.
It was also a way for me to move toward my dream of producing docu-
mentaries, full time. So I worked part time on WDT for 2 1/2 years while
I made a living producing videos for country artists like Dolly Parton and
Junior Brown. It was really hard to do but when the film premiered it was
well received, won many awards and played in theaters and on televi-
sion… and I had taken a big step toward my goal.

Study Scripts

Spend time learning what makes a great script. Read lots of scripts
and educate yourself by determining what makes an excellent one. Go
to a library or online to find classic brilliant scripts like Citizen Kane,
Chinatown, and Star Wars and study them. Watching them on screen
is not the same thing. You need to read it line by line, analyze the
structure, figure out the beats, and decide what makes a compelling pro-
tagonist, to really understand what makes a stellar screenplay. Producer
Shelby Stone (Lackawanna Blues) calls it “mapping.” She takes a great,
already-produced script and breaks it down, beat by beat and maps the

DEVELOPMENT 3

beginning and end of each act on paper so she can analyze what makes
that particular film work so well. Then she uses that info and compares
it to the scripts she is developing to make sure she is on track. You don’t
need to reinvent the wheel, just use great past work as a template for
your great future work.

Better yet, buy books that contain great screenplays in which the
author analyzes them and shows how they are crafted. Or take a screen-
writing class to learn the principles of the screenplay form. Even if you
don’t want to be a writer, you will learn the basics of screenwriting and it
will be invaluable as you develop a script with a writer.

Lastly, read lots of scripts — good and bad — in the genre you wish
to produce. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines genre as “a
category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a
particular style, form, or content.” It is the type of film you plan to make,
such as horror, comedy, drama, sci-fi, fantasy, or animation. There are
sub-genres too, like coming-of-age films, road movies and buddy films.
These genres have a specific set of rules that drive the narrative and
character development. The audience gets its enjoyment from the cre-
ativity of the film itself, but also how the film follows the “rules” of that
genre. Learn them so you can combine them in a different way or subvert
them. Decide what you want to produce and really go to school on it.

Development Process

The development process is focused on five areas — 1) Ownership of
original or underlying materials; 2) Creation of log line, screenplay, and
revision; 3) Creation of proposal and pitch for the film; 4) Acquisition of
financing; 5) Creation of tentative distribution plan. We’ll go through them:

Obtaining Rights to Underlying Material

Your film will be produced from a finished screenplay, but how it gets
to that format can happen in many different ways. It may originate as
a screenplay or it could come from some other material that needs to
be adapted to the screenplay format. Such possible material includes
magazine or newspaper articles, short stories, novels, comic books,
graphic novels, blogs, theater plays, TV shows, Web series, screenplays,
or another film. If the idea comes from such a format, you’ll need to
obtain the rights to the material so that you can be on solid legal ground
for your project. Don’t write a screenplay without obtaining the proper

4 PRODUCER TO PRODUCER | RYAN

rights first. It could be a big waste of time. Inquire first to make sure
someone else doesn’t own the film rights already. Hollywood studios and
film production companies have departments dedicated to discovering
new material for potential film projects. They often get a book in galley
format so they can see it before everyone else and have a chance to pur-
chase the rights ahead of the pack.

Documentaries are often based on already-published material about
the subject matter. Man on Wire, a film I co-produced, is about Philippe
Petit, the wirewalker who walked between the World Trade Center towers
in 1974. In 2002, Philippe wrote a book titled To Reach the Clouds about
the miraculous event. The film’s producer, Simon Chinn, purchased the
rights to that book and negotiated a deal for Philippe’s involvement in
the film before he went to financiers to discuss the funding of the film.
This important step assured the investors that the producer held the
proper rights to the underlying material to make the film, without fear of
any rights problems further down the line.

But before we get into the particulars, let’s discuss the meaning of
the word “rights.” Rights is short for copyright — or the right to copy.
According to Michael Donaldson, in his comprehensive book Clearance
and Copyright, “copyright law does not protect ideas. Copyright law
only protects ‘the expression of an idea that is fixed in a tangible form.’ ”
For our discussion in this chapter, we will concentrate on literary-type
rights listed above. Music rights will be covered in the Music chapter,
later in this book.

Here’s what you need to consider regarding obtaining the rights for a
film:

1. Do you need exclusive or non-exclusive rights? Is it ok for some-
one else to also own the rights to material that you use for the basis
of your screenplay? Or do you need to own it exclusively? The price
will be higher if you require exclusivity.

2. For how long do you need the rights? In perpetuity or less time?
Generally, you want to own rights in perpetuity (forever) but
sometimes you may want to purchase rights for a shorter period of
time, especially to start with. You could also get an option for the
rights for a year or two with the option to acquire the rights for a
longer period of time, automatically. With an option, you can develop
the project more cost effectively and then pay a higher fee once you
know your film project is funded and is going to be produced.

DEVELOPMENT 5

3. Who is the proper and legal rights holder? Make sure you are in
contact with the person who owns the rights to the underlying
work. They must own the copyright and be able to prove it, legally.
Otherwise you could be purchasing rights from the wrong person
and it would not be legally binding and would be a waste of money.

4. What rights do you need? Worldwide or just a particular kind of
rights? There are all different kinds of rights: theatrical (domes-
tic and foreign); domestic TV; domestic cable TV; international
TV; VOD; DVD; Internet/online; film festival; cell phone; and prob-
ably a few more, since this book was published. Usually, it’s best
to purchase all of them, which is commonly referred to as world-
wide rights. But sometimes you don’t need all those rights, or you
can’t afford them, or they are not available. You have to weigh all
of these possibilities with what you know and what you anticipate
your needs will be, now and in the future. Technology is changing
so quickly that you need to be looking ahead and staying on top of
the current and future state of the industry.

5. Life rights are the rights to the details of a private person’s life
that are not in the public domain. If you have these rights, the indi-
vidual can’t sue you for using his or her life story.

6. Film festival rights are usually affordable. Some of my students
option the rights to a short story when producing their short films.
Often the author will give them non-exclusive film festival rights to
the story for free or almost free. This is helpful and allows you to
screen at film festivals for almost no money. But if your film does
well and someone wants to buy the rights to your film for a televi-
sion broadcast or some other distribution, you are going to have to
go back to the rights holder and re-negotiate for additional rights.
The rights holder could ask for more money than you can afford
and then you won’t be able to make the deal. You always want to
plan for your film’s success. A good way to future-proof your film
is to make a deal for the festival rights but also negotiate fees for
the additional rights you would need if your film was successful —
Internet, DVD, television, etc. And get it in writing — so you’ll know
the costs before you begin to produce your film and be able to refer
to it when you go back to the rights holder later on.

6 PRODUCER TO PRODUCER | RYAN

7. Make sure to add future technology rights to any agreement that
you sign. You want to future-proof your ability to exploit your film.
Having rights for “media known and unknown” is necessary to make
sure the rights will follow any new technology that has yet to be
invented.

8. All of this should be done with the assistance of an entertainment
attorney. Make sure you have your lawyer look over the final con-
tract before you sign it.

Screenplay Creation and Revision

I’ve discussed how important it is to know what makes a great screen-
play. Your entire film rests on its foundation. Work hard to get it right and
learn to give good, clear, and helpful notes to the screenwriter. “Writing” is
actually a misnomer. It’s actually rewriting. It’s the revision process that
will make all the difference. Make sure the script is rewritten and rewrit-
ten until it is the best you and the writer can possibly create. It is up to
you as the producer to make that happen. I am not a screenwriter and
don’t pretend to be. Benjamin Odell (Padre Nuestro, Ladrón que roba
a ladrón), the talented producer and president of Panamax Films (www
.panamaxfilms.com) has a lot of experience regarding script revision and
the development process. Below is the transcript from our interview.

Maureen: What are the most important steps a producer needs
to take to develop a project successfully?
Ben: First and foremost is ownership of material, what will eventually be
called “chain of title.” One of the first things [a distributor or a studio]
asks for is chain of title, which follows who owns the rights to the under-
lying material and how those rights were transferred from the original
source material, whether it be a novel or a documentary or an idea, to
the screenwriter, to the producer, and then to the distributer who’s going
to control those rights for some period of time.

So when you’re developing material, the question you have to ask
yourself is: Where are the ideas coming from? Where is the material
coming from? And are those rights controlled? If they’re not controlled
by you, the first thing you have to figure out is how to control them long
enough to develop the material into something that you can use to raise
the money and make the film.

So many first-time producers get really far into projects — they find
a script they like, they develop it with the writer, and they put a lot of
energy into sort of shaping the material so it’ll work. Then, at some point,
when they’re ready to do the deal, they haven’t discussed and signed and
sort of buttoned down the terms of the deal, and the writer walks away

DEVELOPMENT 7

or extorts them or feels like he or she deserves more. So buttoning down
rights is, by far, the first thing to think about before you think from a
creative point of view.

Secondly, as a producer, I think you always have to think about and
ask yourself: Who’s my audience? Who am I developing this material for?
Who is the end user? I think that’s the huge difference between a pro-
ducer and a screenwriter/director. Producers have to really think about
the end game where the filmmakers are thinking about their vision and,
to some degree, I think producers have the obligation when they’re look-
ing for material to say, “Is this a movie I can sell?” And if it’s going to
be a hard sell or if you want to take an artistic approach to material, as a
producer, you have to go in knowing that.

In other words, if you’re going to make a movie like Padre Nuestro —
Spanish language, no-name actors, dark ending, dark opening, [you need
to be] conscious of the fact that the budget has to reflect the reality of
the marketplace. In other words, it would be ridiculous to try to make a
$20 million hyper art house film, very small intellectual movie. It’s going
to go nowhere, even if you pack it full of stars.

When you’re searching for material ask yourself: “Who’s going to
want to see this?” I think it’s important, too, before you get into devel-
opment, to sort of see where the business is. I mean, just in the last year,
watching all of these art house divisions of studios close shop you have
to ask yourself: Where are the opportunities for small movies?

If you already have a project you like, I think you have to ask those
tough questions before you buy any material or spend any time really
developing. People don’t really consider this part of development but the
truth is, as a producer, I think your obligation first is to understand the
reality of the business.

Then sometimes it’s like — throw all caution to the wind and do it
because there is no logic to it and you don’t know if there is an audience
there, but you love it and that’s fine, too. But I think you have to go into
it clear about the reality. I see so many producers so delusional about the
ability of their films to perform — they’re developing material that leaves
them so shocked when they can’t find anywhere to take their movies and
they don’t know what to do with them.

Maureen: You are a writer yourself and you’ve written screen-
plays. I feel that you, as a producer, come to that revision process
— note giving — with a lot more than a lot of producers, and I’d
love to hear your philosophy and what you think are the most
important things for a producer to know.

Ben: First off, when you’re in this position of making low-budget films,
the one thing you obviously don’t have is money to buy scripts. So, more
often than not, what you’re going to do is option a script for a period of
time, while you develop it and then you’re going to try to get it made or
raise the money.

Draw up an option, negotiate it and sign it with the writer. Obviously
there is going to be very little money involved and I think that inherently
changes the nature of the relationship between the producer and the

8 PRODUCER TO PRODUCER | RYAN

writer, because you have to be much more diplomatic in your approach
to development.

Development money is the riskiest money — I don’t like to spend
money early on. I like to develop at least to a certain point before I spend
any money.

One of the first things I’ll do if I read a screenplay that I think is 50%
there is I’ll sit down with the writer and try to understand his or her
vision of the screenplay. In other words, not what’s on the page but what
they tried to get on the page. Because oftentimes I think where the prob-
lems come between a producer and a screenwriter is that the producer
doesn’t try to understand where the screenwriter is going. So when the
producer is giving notes to the writer, the writer is fighting those notes
because, in her head, the movie is something completely different.

So I think there is a process early on and I think it’s pre-option, where
you’re really trying to figure out what the writer’s vision is and then you
try to also sort of say, Okay. Is that my vision? Is that what I liked
about the screenplay? And if it isn’t, then you need to have that con-
versation and you have to be very transparent about how you envision
the movie, because it has to be all clear beforehand, it’s like entering
into a marriage. If you don’t understand where the writer envisions the
movie going and where you envision it and those things aren’t cleared
up, most likely you’ll find yourself, a year later, incredibly frustrated and
won’t have gotten anywhere. So that’s the first process. Try to bring the
writer’s complete vision to the foreground, even if it’s not in the screen-
play, and then compare it to your own.

Then, even pre-option, I would recommend that you sort of say, Okay,
this is what I feel like the movie needs. Oftentimes what I’ll do is say,
Watch this movie because I feel like that’s the tone. The tone that you
have isn’t right. Try to find movies or novels or whatever it is that you
can give to the other people to express where you think the screenplay
needs to go. Then sit down again—and this could take a month or two—
and see if you can get on the same page.

The clearer your notes, the better the record of your directory. At
the end of the day, what I do is I keep a log, like a development log.
Every time I give notes to a writer I keep those notes in a log so that I
know where the script went at the end of the process and I know how I
impacted that script — and that’s for a lot of reasons. It’s also for legal
reasons, and I guess, on some level, for my own gratification to under-
stand my impact on the script, and it’s also because sometimes you find
yourself with a screenplay that’s developed and it’s gone in a direction
that you hadn’t imagined.

It’s always good to be able to go back and see where it all went wrong
and say, Remember, the original idea that we talked about is that
this movie is about a man who will go to all ends to stay…. It’s the
strength of paternal love. And, look, we’ve gone off. Let’s go back
and look at these original notes and look at what you said. You can
always go back to that original idea that got things going.

DEVELOPMENT 9

Maureen: Do you ever put your notes in writing and send to the
writer? Or is that done in your conversations and they take notes
from that meeting?

Ben: I usually go in, take notes, write them down, email them to the
writer, get on the phone with the writer, and go through the notes. What
I try to do—and I’m not sure that I always succeed—is let them air their
complaints because it’s such a personal thing. It’s people’s egos and their
lives and their emotions are wrapped up in their characters. So often the
main character is some reflection of the writer.

So when you’re giving notes it can get very touchy and emotional; so
you sort of let them react to your notes. First, let them read them, digest
them, you give them a couple days to react to the notes, and then you sit
down, chew on them, and then take it from there.

I think every development process with every writer is completely
different and part of your job as a producer is to be a psychologist and
figure out how to best get where you need to go and the way they need
to deliver notes. So, often, if you have an idea that you think would work,
the best way to get it to work for the writer is to somehow make her
think it’s her own ideas.

It just not to make them think it is. It’s to somehow get them engaged
with the idea in such a way— I can’t tell you how many times I’ll give a
writer an idea and a week later he or she will call me up and say, I got
this idea. They’ll tell you the idea exactly as you proposed it to them
and it’s hard on the ego but you’ve got to say, That’s a brilliant idea
and then everything is good.

It’s one of the hardest things about being a producer. Sometimes I’ve
even demanded credit when I felt like I needed it. It’s hard as a pro-
ducer but you have to be prepared on some level that you are going to
support this movie, creatively, on so many levels that you will never get
credit. The only way a producer ever is seen as a creative force is over
time with a body of work… but never on a single film will somebody say,
It’s obvious that you, the producer, had a great creative impact on
the script.

What I always say is if you can’t handle it then become a screenwriter,
which is frankly what I’ve done. I’m writing two or three scripts a year
now because I got tired of it. But that’s definitely part of the process. I
think the hardest part is when a producer has a vision of a movie and
thinks it’s the same vision as the writer, and then, only through the act of
rewriting, you find that it’s not.

Maureen: As the producer, you need to know more than anybody,
what you want.

Ben: Definitely. I also think you don’t have to be a writer but you should,
as a producer, have tried to write and you should read the books. You
should read Save the Cat by Blake Snyder, and you should read Syd
Field and you should read Robert McKee (screenplay teaching gurus)—
you don’t have to know how to write but you should be able to at least
speak the language. I frankly think any producer should go through the

10 P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

painful act of trying to write a screenplay to understand how bloody hard
it is and therefore why you shouldn’t beat your writers up when they
don’t do exactly what you think they should. Because the movie you
have in your head is never the movie that ends up on the page. It never
translates that fluidly unless you’re a genius screenwriter, but there are
very few. I think the more you can empathize with the writing process,
the easier it is to deal with the writers.

The other thing that I think is really important to mention is the
pacing of [the rewriting process]. No good screenplay comes in less than
15 or 20 drafts, but you can’t get all your notes in one draft. When you
read a screenplay and you love it but it needs a lot of work and it needs
structural work and it needs work on character and it needs work on
dialogue… you have to start with the macro first and fix the structure
and make sure there is a through line and a premise and that there are
themes and all those sort of larger concepts first and then you go in.

If you send them a 30-page document—and I know this because I’ve
done it and it’s a disaster—with every note from like “the second act, it
doesn’t work” to “on page 33 the line of dialogue—blah-blah-blah—
doesn’t feel funny enough,” writers will feel so overwhelmed that they’ll
burn out. You shouldn’t try to get everything in one draft and I think that
anyone who tries to do that finds it takes much longer to get to a good
screenplay. Pace yourself in terms of how you’re trying to deconstruct
and reconstruct the screenplay.

Also, after a draft let the writer rest and don’t come at him three days
later with aggressive notes because you can really burn out a writer fast
if you don’t watch how you’re pacing. That’s why I [think it’s good to]
write a screenplay and then you’ll understand just how hard it is.

Richard Price, a novelist and screenwriter, said that “writing a screen-
play is like carrying a piano up five flights of stairs.” He had written a
screenplay called Clockers for Scorsese and so he got it up the five flights
of stairs and then Spike Lee decided to direct the movie. He said it was
like all of a sudden you had to take the piano down the five flights and
carry it back it back up again. That’s sort of the way it feels, as a writer,
to go through a draft. So the more you can put yourself in their heads
and realize how difficult it is— I think producers always underestimate
how hard it is to be creative and execute those creative ideas. Because
of that they sometimes beat the writers up, unnecessarily.

Maureen: Any other advice regarding the rest of the screenwrit-
ing process — getting to the point where you finally have a script
that’s ready to go into production?

Ben: One is if you’re dealing with a screenwriter who’s not the director,
[you need] to know when to bring a director in and you shouldn’t bring a
director in at the end. If you bring in a director at the end you’re losing
the advantage. It is a director’s medium and the director needs to come
in early enough to shape the material.

At the same time, you have to be very clear about who controls the
ultimate vision of the screenplay because you may bring in a director who
takes control and takes it in a direction you don’t want. So you almost

DEVELOPMENT 11

have to do the same thing with a director. You have to interview your
directors, make sure they have the vision that you want and that they’re
only going to bring out more of what you had in mind. If it’s a writer/
director you don’t have that problem, necessarily, but you can have other
problems because they’re so tied to it in so many different ways.

I think the other big piece of advice is patience. Too often producers
take their material out too early. They have one connection to one exec-
utive at one studio or they have one potential financier and they take
the screenplay to them when it’s not ready. It’s always harder to get that
person to read a screenplay a second time. They don’t read as carefully.
They remember the things they didn’t like. Even if they aren’t in the
screenplay any longer, they still sort of linger in the mind of the reader
and so it’s very hard to get somebody to become excited about a screen-
play the second time. There is only one time for the first impression.

I think producers so often make the mistake, especially when they’re
doing it cheaply and they raise the [money] independently where nobody
has invested that deeply in it. It’s $10,000 here or there and you make it
for $200,000. No one contemplates that by not spending those six extra
months to get the screenplay right you will have to live with that flawed
movie for the rest of your life. Forget about the fact that you have two to
three years between preproduction, production, editing, and distribution
of just dealing with the movie. Why would you not spend those addi-
tional six months to get the script further along—first, to raise money
and then to go into production? People are really impatient and often
young producers will go into production before they should.

Maureen: How do you know when it’s time to go into production?

Ben: I think one thing is that you should surround yourself with people
you trust. I’ll send my screenplays undeveloped out to three or four
readers and I ask the screenwriter to do the same. Look for people who
are neutral, don’t know the story and some who do. Some who’ve read a
previous draft and some who haven’t. Every time we feel like the script
is taking a giant leap forward, we try to find that little group of people—
some of them are the same, some are new, [to read it and give notes].
I never take their advice 100%. I listen and what you’ll find, if you take
it to enough readers, is the film’s patterns. Things that you were feeling
and then you hear three people say the same thing and you’ll go, Okay,
I have to change that.

Then you’ll get a note from somebody whom you really respect but
it’s the only time you’ve ever heard that note and, frankly, often—it’s
not that the person is wrong but it’s not the right note for the movie
you’re making and so you have to ignore it. It’s a process. [But] don’t
depend on just your [opinion] and constantly refresh yourself by finding
new people to read it. But always keep an arm’s length from those notes
because they don’t always work. They may not like the genre. They may
not have been paying attention when they were reading. That’s why you
need enough readers to really rely on.

Don’t rely only on yourself and certainly you have to be very in touch
with your ego and the need to make a movie. Never discount how much

12 P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

your ego plays into making films because we all want to be recognized
as filmmakers and there is always that glamorous side of it. Sometimes
we’re so hungry for that part that we rush through the rest because we’re
imagining receiving the Oscar. Frankly, because you rushed through
things you won’t get close to getting even a theatrical release. It’s about
getting your ego in check and not being too eager to be a producer and
tell everybody that you’re making a movie because they’ll see it a year
later and say, That sucked and then you’ll really regret that you didn’t
take more time.

Maureen: As you’re getting ready to go into production, anything
else to keep in mind?

Ben: Screenplays are fluid and what’s amazing about the process of
making films is that when your art director gets involved, when your
actors get involved, when your DP gets involved, they all see your movie
from their own particular angles and they all bring really interesting
energy and ideas. At that point the director really needs to be in con-
trol and all of those ideas need to be filtered through the vision of the
screenplay. But as long as the parameters of the idea of the movie you
want are firmly place, all of that new energy and those new ideas are
good. As a producer and then with the director, of course, you create an
atmosphere of collaboration where those ideas can be absorbed, because
in the process of making the movie you’re still writing. I think as a pro-
ducer you have to stay very alert, especially in the low-budget world, to
how the budget is impacting the storytellers.

So it’s a process of seeing what’s in front of you and being able to
weave it into your screenplay, taking advantage of the resources you do
have rather than trying to force a screenplay using the resources you
don’t have. In other words, trying to make a big-budget movie with a
low budget. Keep the writing process open as you go into production
because you’ll find that so many opportunities continue to expand and
make the script better.

So often you’ll find that the things that are right in front of you, that
you have access to, that can work as well or better than what you had
imagined in the screenplay and will cost you less money. That process is
using your resources and continuing to develop your screenplay as you
go and keeping your eyes open to opportunities within the reach of your
budget that are functional to low-budget screenwriting. I think all the
good, interesting low-budget movies have that story in which there is a
lot of exploration that came out of the limitations.

Maureen: If you are open and if you’re looking, if you’re seeing
and hearing and then you just throw out an idea, it could really
take the scene to a whole other level and it didn’t cost anything.
That’s probably a major part of my philosophy about producing.

Ben: I think we, the producers, have to establish that atmosphere of
collaboration and willingness to change early on. When you talk about
development, I think it does leak into preproduction and production and
you need a director who’s going to have that kind of spirit. Too often

DEVELOPMENT 13

you’ll find directors who are so set in their ways that, because they’re
not willing to make changes based on the reality of the budget, they
undermine the film and end up with something that doesn’t work. So it’s
interesting. It’s hard in low-budget filmmaking especially, to separate the
development of the screenplay from the development of the film itself.

Maureen: How important is a good log line to the development
process?

Ben: Screenplays need a focus and usually that focus can be summed
up some way in a log line. It may not be in the traditional Hollywood
sense of the log line but there is this kind of concept that will carry
you through, all the way to the marketing of the movie. It’s like that
very same thing that hooked you into wanting to make the film is the
same thing that, captured properly in a trailer, will hook an audience into
going into a movie. That can be very effective.

Producers, from the day they decide to make a movie until it’s mar-
keted at the end, need to be able to sum up a movie quickly for a hundred
different people. First for investors and for actors, then for your director,
then for a great DP, and then when you’ve got to get into a festival and
they ask you to chop up your film and send in a log line. If you get in,
that log line ends up in the catalog and that catalog ends up being sent
to every major distributer. Or it ends up showing up at the festival with
people reading the log lines to decide whether or not they’re going to see
the movie.

So, in a way, if you don’t have a quick way of summing [up] your film,
it will make it harder every step of the process. I believe that with most
great films, you tend, somehow, to catch their essence in a very simple
way, even if it’s not some sort of Hollywood hook.

It’s a tough question because I do feel like there are filmmakers who
make movies that you can’t sum up and it’s just like they’re such an
original vision. Even a movie like Napoleon Dynamite is not a movie
that’s easily summed up. It’s more in the sort of execution and the weird
humor. The point is as a producer, you should find a way to capture
them, even for films that are not easily summed up. To say, imagine if this
were David Lynch making The Matrix. I don’t know what that means,
but somehow I’ll go see that movie and that’s probably an art-house film.

I think that as a producer you’re constantly forced to reduce your
movie to a concept that’s salable and so it is effective to figure out how
to sell it from the beginning.

The other point is that it also depends who you’re talking to as to how
you want to sell your movie. So you may want to have sort of different
pitches depending on who you’re talking to. Certainly if you’re trying
to pitch name actors, that log line should be about the characters they
would be playing. It depends who you’re talking to.

Maureen: I think that if I can’t come up with a log line that
makes sense, I find it to be a red flag. You’ve got to go back and
make sure you get it right. Do you agree with that?

14 P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

Ben: I completely agree. I fully believe that and frankly I won’t make a
movie unless I feel like there is a really interesting concept in it. Partly
it’s because I’ve come to a point where I tend to like movies frankly
that are a little more concept driven, even if it ends up Being John
Malkovich. Being John Malkovich is a pretty weird concept, but there
was a log line. A guy finds a portal into the brain of John Malkovich.

Now, that’s not going to get the masses running to go see it but, cer-
tainly for its audience, that log line was brilliant. I definitely feel that’s
the way to develop screenplays and that, truthfully, once you have that
concept you sort of have to ask yourself as you’re developing it: Are you
being true to it? If you find that in the middle of Act II you’re off on
some tangent that has nothing to do with that original concept, you’re
probably lost.

But the only reason I don’t say that out loud is because you get that,
How would you discover the next Fellini then? How would you pitch
Amarcord? It’s true. It’s like the exception, in a sense, proves the rule
that once in a while there is a movie that’s so brilliant and so impossible
to sum up in a phrase.

I think as a responsible producer you want to have more than a log
line. It’s a concept that conveys your movie in some way that’s interest-
ing and unique and more often than not — emotional. If there is some
sense of emotion in the concept and you’re true to that emotion in your
movie, it tends to make more sense.

Maureen: I know you’ve worked with a lot of writer/directors. Is
there anything in the development process that would be differ-
ent if it were a writer/director?

Ben: One thing that I do see happen often is that writer/directors tend
to think—young ones, new ones, and some who maybe aren’t fully devel-
oped—they don’t need everything on the page. They say, No, but I had
this in my head and I’ve envisioned—

The problem is that a screenplay is a tool that many people who col-
laborate on a movie have to use and so it does two things. One is that
you need to communicate to other people and also it’s always better
to force your writer/director to articulate his vision on the page first.
Because often when they don’t, you realize they really didn’t have it that
clear and when they try to execute, it didn’t work.

So it’s always better to try to get them to get as much of their vision
in screenplay form as possible and that’s one of the areas that you can
run into problems.

I think there is one other area of development that’s hugely impor-
tant, which is finding your director. How do you find your director
based on your material? Obviously you have them read the script.
You have them sit down and articulate their vision and then one of
the things that I often do is have them list several movies that they
feel in some way capture what it is they want to do. Like how many
different ways can we have them visualize their vision before you
take them on as a director? I think you have to get a sense of what

DEVELOPMENT 15

they’re going to bring to the table before you get them involved. It’s
not just about seeing their previous films and thinking that they have
the right sensibility. It’s also about articulating their vision on that
movie before you sign them on. Because once you sign a director you
now have three people opining about every little nook and cranny
and it gets more complicated.

Screenwriting Software

There are many scriptwriting software programs out there. Final Draft is
one of the most common and is compatible with EP Scheduling and EP
Budgeting software. There are many others and you can check the www.
ProducertoProducer.com website for more listings.

Getting Feedback on the Script

Once you have a great draft of the screenplay it’s a good idea to send it
to people who have different tastes in film from yours to give you some
notes. It can be very enlightening to have a different perspective on the
screenplay from someone who may not be a ready cheerleader and yet
can give constructive criticism for your film. I don’t suggest that you ask
for script notes from family and friends unless they are talented and
experienced filmmakers themselves. Otherwise the chances are slim that
anything they say to you will be very useful. No offense, but I wouldn’t
ask my mom to read my x-rays and give me her opinion about possible
surgery options for my foot unless she were a trained radiologist. It’s fine
for family and friends to read your screenplay but I would take whatever
they say with many grains of salt.

Doing a table read or a staged reading will also be invaluable in the
final stages of the script-revision process. Gather up the best actors you
can find for each role and send the script at least a week ahead of time
to the actors. Plan for a few hours of rehearsal time with the director (if
attached at that time) or whoever will do the best job. Then invite trusted
filmmakers and insightful colleagues and have the actors read the script,
start to finish, without stopping. A quiet space that allows the actors to
sit proscenium-style in front of the audience works best. The thing that
matters most is that the actors understand each of their roles and have
the time to rehearse with the director so they can convey the essence of
the screenplay and the characters. Afterward, you can poll the audience
on key questions that you want feedback on or you can talk/correspond
directly to individuals and get their notes about the reading.

16 P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

It’s one thing to read the script and hear the voices in your head. It’s a
revelation to watch great actors read the dialogue and act out the words.
Jokes that just laid there on the page can come alive and things that
you thought would be incredibly moving or funny might not deliver the
dramatic punch or laughs when exposed to the light of a staged reading.
Caution — don’t get too caught up in the individual performances and
gloss over any needed changes in structure and tone. There have been
times that producers become so enamored with a brilliant actor’s per-
formance that it blinds them to the weak third act or the lack of a clear
want or need in one of the other characters. We’ve all heard the adage
— If it’s not on the page, it’s never going to get onto the screen. You still
need to attend to those issues before you begin official preproduction.
Now is the time to do it.

Veteran producer/executive producer and managing partner of
Emerging Pictures, Ira Deutchman (www.EmergingPictures.com),
weighs in on the development process:

Maureen: When you’re putting a project together, do you do
staged readings?
Ira: There are a couple different parts to that. It really depends on the
project. Some projects read well and some projects don’t. I think it’s very
difficult for people, in general, to sit through readings, unless, first of all,
the acting is really very good. I always recommend that the script be cut
dramatically.

If you’re doing it for investors and for outsiders, for any sort of audi-
ence, I think [the length of] most screenplays will definitely try their
patience. So in those kinds of circumstances, if that’s what you’re going
after, it would be an edited version of it. Sometimes you can just have a
narrator read the stage directions, sometimes there are better ways of
doing that.

I’ve seen people do very clever things at readings including use of
music. I would just caution that if you’re going to do something like that,
make sure people are rehearsed so that they really know what they’re
doing.

Maureen: If you’re doing a reading for investors, do you have any
suggestions of where to do it — a stage? A conference room? Is
there anything that you think is very important that you need to
try to make happen?
Ira: I think it’s partially whatever is available but it’s also partially what’s
going to get people interested in coming. So a venue like a bar — and I’m
not saying a loud bar, but like the back room of a bar — so there is, sort
of, a promise that there is going to be refreshments or just some place
interesting. Like if it is at one of these trendier kind of homey clubs, those

DEVELOPMENT 17

would be things that might make it feel like more of an event. Whereas
doing it in a conference room definitely doesn’t feel like an event.

Maureen: What about actor rehearsals before production?

Ira: Readings, as rehearsal, are a little different when there isn’t anybody
around and I would highly recommend that, particularly for comedies.
Comic timing is so important and I feel like the films that I’ve been
involved with — the low-budget films that had any real comic repartee
— one of the problems with working with a low-budget film is you don’t
have enough rehearsal time, you don’t have enough takes, usually, to get
it on the ninth take or something. So those are the places where I would
say that doing a couple of readings where the cast can actually bounce
the lines off of each other [is invaluable]. It’s a way of finding laugh lines
and making up for the lack of time to do it on the set.

Script Doctors

Sometimes it makes sense to bring in a script doctor to work on the
screenplay. A script doctor is an experienced screenwriter who is brought
in to rewrite parts of a screenplay such as dialogue, pacing, or other
aspects. It is common for script doctors to not receive screen credit for
their work. If you decide to hire a script doctor you should consult a
lawyer and research any guild rules, if applicable.

Writer’s Guild of America

The Writer’s Guild of America is the union for screenwriters in the U.S.
The West Coast chapter is located online at www.wga.org and the East
Coast chapter can be found online at www.wgaeast.org. If you hire a
union screenwriter you’ll need to follow the guild rules for fees and work
regulations.

Log Line — Don’t Leave Home Without It

It’s never too early to start working on the log line for your film. The
log line is a sentence (or two) that describes the protagonist(s) and the
plot line of the film in a very specific way. Some people insist it must be
one sentence only. I believe it can be two if the alternative is a jammed
sentence that is so grammatically mangled that it’s hard to understand
the meaning. The log line describes what the film is about, using verbs
as much as possible. Verbs are action words and that’s what makes a
good film.

18 P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

You want it to capture the essence of your film and elicit the reac-
tion “I want to see that!” from most of the people you tell it to. If it’s a
comedy, the log line should come across as funny. If it’s a documentary
then you want it to communicate the topic effectively so that listeners
can engage immediately with the subject.

If people aren’t interested after hearing the log line, you need to revise
it until it works. If you change it and you still get lukewarm responses,
then you might not have a great film yet and you’ll need to change the
script or the treatment until you do. Log lines can be a great reality check
to find out if you are onto a good thing. One of my favorite log lines was
from a film I produced a few years ago titled The Team. The documen-
tary was directed by James Marsh and Basia Winograd in 2004-5. James
wrote the log line — “Shot over a period of five months in the spring and
summer of 2003, The Team chronicles the efforts of a homeless agency
in New York to recruit and train a soccer team of homeless people to
compete in the first annual homeless world soccer championships in
Graz, Austria.” Most people were generally intrigued by the log line and
we were able to get funding for the film off of the short treatment written
by the co-directors. Don’t underestimate the power of a good log line.

Log Line Creation

Writing a log line requires skill and there are certain principles for cre-
ating a great log line. Dave Anaxagoras (www.davidanaxagoras.com)
has come up with the best rules for log line creation. He’s been kind
enough to let me reprint some of his info in this book.

Here is Dave’s advice for the essential elements of effective log lines:

TONE AND GENRE
What is the tone and genre of your screenplay? If your log line describes
the humorous adventures of a robot butler, it is a safe assumption you
have a sci-fi comedy. But if there is any chance of confusion, explicitly
state the genre and tone.

A MOTIVATED PROTAGONIST
Whose story is this? What flaw must your hero overcome? What motivates
your protagonist to undertake his or her goal? The subject of your log
line (and your screenplay) is the protagonist. We must also understand
what motivates this protagonist. Why this protagonist for this story?

DEVELOPMENT 19

Protagonists’ motivations could be an emotional problem, a character
flaw, or an incident in their past that still haunts them.

Sometimes, a single adjective is enough to give us a sense of the pro-
tagonist’s motivations — not just a pet store clerk, but a lonely pet store
clerk. Not just a fourth-grader, but a timid fourth-grader. Remember,
these aren’t extraneous adjectives; they are relevant to the story and
describe motivation. A bald man doesn’t suggest motivation . . . unless
he’s stalking the president of the hair-club for men.

INCITING INCIDENT
What sets the story in motion? This is the spark that ignites the fire, the
event that sets the whole story in motion. It gives your protagonist (and
your script) focus and direction. The Inciting Incident is the meat of our
log line.

MAIN OBSTACLE
Without some serious conflict, without an obstacle, you could just write
and they lived happily ever after and the story would be over. The
inciting incident sets the story in motion. The conflict is the story. In
order to sustain a script for 110 script pages, we need big conflict. This
would be a good place to mention the antagonist.

ULTIMATE GOAL
This is the end-game, the desired outcome of the protagonist’s efforts.
This is what the protagonist is after, what they truly desire more than
anything else in the movie. You have to have it in your script, or the story
could meander and end up anywhere.

STAKES
A very legitimate question that many people ask is “Who Cares?” or, put
another way, “So what?” What they are really asking, for our purposes,
is “What’s at stake?” The outcome has to matter in a way that we care
about. So what hangs in the balance? What happens if the protagonist
doesn’t reach his or her goal? In other words, we are talking worst case
scenario. What catastrophe we are trying to avoid?

RECAP
The six essential elements of the log line are:

1. Tone and genre

2. The protagonist’s identity and motivation

20 P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

3. The inciting incident

4. The main obstacle or central conflict

5. The protagonist’s ultimate goal or desired outcome

6. The stakes, or what happens if the goal is not accomplished

A prototype log line might look like this: TITLE OF MY SCREENPLAY
is a GENRE with overtones of TONE about a PROTAGONIST who HAS
A FLAW/MOTIVATION when THE INCITING INCIDENT HAPPENS and
s/he must then overcome THE MAIN OBSTACLE in order to accom-
plish THE ULTIMATE GOAL or else there will be CATASTROPHIC
CONSEQUENCES.

Don’t be a slave to the formula. Not all elements must be explicitly
stated, and not always in this order. But the idea is to cover this essential
information, one way or another, as economically as possible. I find it
easiest to write everything into one long, unwieldy and awkward sen-
tence first and then edit down to something elegant and economical.

For BOMBER, a feature film I produced with writer/director/producer
Paul Cotter, our log line is: “A bittersweet comedy about love, family and
dropping bombs on Germany. An 83-year-old man goes back to find and
apologize to a village he accidently bombed during the Second World War.”

Notice that the essential elements in any effective log line are also the
essential elements of any viable movie. Working out a thorough log line
can be an important first step in developing a solid movie concept.

Creating a Proposal

For any project that requires funding you will usually need to put together
a proposal. There is a general format for such a proposal although you can
customize it to fit your particular film. There are differences in what you
include when creating one for a narrative film versus a documentary film.
I have included an example of each at the end of this section. A proposal
should be only a few pages long. Less than five pages is best. People don’t
have a lot of time and you need to make sure to include only the informa-
tion that is essential for them to make a decision. If they are interested and
want more info, they will ask for it and you can supply it. Narrative propos-
als can be different from proposals for documentaries. When applicable,
there are separate requirements for narrative and documentary below.

DEVELOPMENT 21

OVERVIEW OR PROJECT INFORMATION —
Narrative format: Describe the project briefly. Include the title, run-
ning time, type of project, and the log line. If you have any important
attachments such as cast or executive producer, mention them here, as
well. You also could choose to include a pitch line, as well. The pitch
line is when you take two fairly recent successful films or television
shows that have elements of your film and put the word “meets” between
them and it creates a filmic child that represents your particular film.
When you put them together you should get an instant image in your
mind of what the film will be, i.e., “Cinderella meets My Big Fat Greek
Wedding.” Make sure to include the format, production schedule length,
and estimated budget.

Documentary format: Similar to the narrative format. Include more
discussion of the film’s topic, giving the reader some background — his-
torical or otherwise. Then you’ll go into some detail about how your film
will focus on the topic. It needs to be clear about your “take” on the topic
and what the trajectory of the film will be.

COMPARISON FILMS —
Narrative format: Just as you studied great scripts from past films,
once you decide what project you want to make you should do some
research on similar projects to compare to yours. Comparison films take
into consideration a film’s theme, demographic (gender and age of your
intended audience), storyline, subject matter, similar characters, casting,
scenarios, and genre. You want to look at these films and research sev-
eral things — what were the production budgets? Where did the money
come from? How much money did it make at the box office (domestic
and international)? DVD sales and Internet sales? Create a grid for your-
self and analyze four to six films for comparison. The films should be
fairly recent, within the last seven years is best — so the economics are
relevant. There are many websites that provide box office information
about past films to fill in your grid. You will begin to see which films were
financially successful and which were not, and where they were able to
make their money.

For those films that were not successful (i.e., did not make back all
the money spent on budget, prints & advertising (P&A), and distri-
bution), figure out why not. Was the budget too high for what could
be made at the box office? Did they spend too much on P&A so they
couldn’t make back their investment? Was it a great script but poor

22 P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

execution (bad acting or directing)? Was it bad timing — two similar
films released around the same time in the same market? Or was the
film just not very good? Did it tank at the box office but then do really
well in DVD sales? Is it destined to be a cult classic and do really well
in DVD sales, long term?

All those factors are important to know because they will be the pre-
dictors of your possible success, they will give you ideas as to where
to go for funding and how to distribute and market the film when com-
pleted. You’ll have your own ideas and contacts but you don’t have to
reinvent the wheel here. If a strategy worked successfully before on a
comparison film, it has a good chance of working for your film, too — as
long as the same conditions apply. Remember everything is constantly
evolving in the film industry, faster and faster than ever, so keep up on
the trends. Discover what factors may impact your film in the market-
place two years down the line and plan for it now. For the proposal,
only include the comparison films that were financially successful. You
don’t want to give the potential investor the impression that your film
won’t be a hit.

Documentary format: Comparison films are important for documenta-
ries, as well. Recently there have been many feature documentaries that
have strong theatrical releases that you can use as examples. Your topic
and scope of your film will be different, so concentrate on the same target
audience, not necessarily the content, when picking comparison films.

INVESTMENT PARTICULARS —
Narrative/Documentary format: Discuss the budget and how the
money will be raised — pre-sales, equity investment, other monies. Put
in the distribution plan. Lastly, include how the investor will be paid back
for what level of investment. Remember to consult your attorney before
finishing the investment sections. There are Security and Exchange
Commission (SEC) rules that need to be followed, for legal reasons.

SYNOPSIS —
The synopsis is probably the most critical part of your proposal. Write it
and rewrite it until it represents the essence of your narrative arc and it
is an easy-to-read document. Keep it visual. You want the readers to be
able to “see” your film by the time they finish reading the last paragraph.

Narrative format: Describe the main characters and the key plot
points of the film. Keep it to no more than three or four key character

DEVELOPMENT 23

descriptions. More than that number and it becomes difficult to keep
them all straight in your head. You should list the character’s name, then
age and then a quick description like “petulant teenager” or “biker chick”
— instant identification through an adjective and a noun. Remember that
conflict = drama. Keep it to three to five paragraphs and no more than
one page. Work hard to make it concise and easy to read.

Documentary format: Use the same principles for a narrative when
writing the documentary synopsis. Bring the film to life for your reader.
Introduce characters and plot points (if applicable) so the synopsis has
the dynamism of a clear narrative arc. You’ll want to give some context to
the film’s subject matter for the reader.

BIOS —
Narrative/Documentary format: Include one paragraph bios of any
key personnel — executive producer, director, and producer. If cast is
attached put their bios here. If a key department head (i.e., cinematog-
rapher, production designer, editor, composer) has an impressive resume
include them, as well.

BACKGROUND/HISTORY OF THE PROJECT –
Narrative format: If there is additional useful information put it here.
Add details like if the screenplay has won any awards or if it participated
in a Sundance workshop or if the underlying material has an interesting
story behind it.

Documentary format: In addition to the above, you can list any of
the grants your project has previously been awarded.

BUDGET AND/OR SCHEDULE —
Narrative format: Add the budget’s summary page or top sheet only
and a schedule, if you have one. If there is any important tax informa-
tion that is relevant, put it here. Many states have tax incentives and the
rules should be outlined here if you plan to take advantage of them.
The proposal should outline the key elements of the film so a potential
investor gets all the pertinent details to make a decision about her invest-
ment. The proposal is usually accompanied by the script. Don’t send out
the proposal until you have a FINAL draft of the script. You only have
one chance to make a first impression.

Documentary format: Include the budget info as described above.
Instead of a script, you can include a trailer if you have one.

24 P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

LEGAL DISCLAIMER
As I have stated at the beginning of this book, I am not an attorney
and am not dispensing any legal advice in this book. You should always
consult with your entertainment lawyer before proceeding. In the case
of putting together a proposal you need to be aware that the Security
Exchange Commission (SEC) has very strict rules about raising money
for a business or a film. You need to discuss these issues with your attor-
ney before you send out a proposal to make sure that you do not run
afoul of any federal statutes.

DEVELOPMENT 25

Proposal Examples

Narrative Film Proposal example

NOTE ABOUT FILM:
Padre Nuestro was completed in the fall of 2006. It was accepted into
the Sundance Film Festival 2007, where it won the grand jury prize. It
was an official selection in more than a dozen major international films
festivals including the San Sebastian Film Festival, Miami International
Film Festival, Havana Film Festival, and Pusan International Film
Festival and was the closing night film at the Morelia Film Festival in
Mexico. It was released by IFC Films in May 2008. Sangre received two
Independent Spirit Awards nominations, for best first feature and best
screenplay. Padre was distributed in over 20 foreign territories and sold
to IFC Films in the U.S. where it was distributed under the title Sangre
de Mi Sangre.

THIS BUSINESS PLAN WAS PREPARED BY PRODUCER BENJAMIN
ODELL IN 2005.

Thanks to the talented writer/producer Benjamin Odell (Sin Memoria,
Ladrón que roba a Ladrón) and writer/director Chris Zalla (Padre
Nuestro, Law and Order) for allowing me to include their proposal for
Padre Nuestro as a narrative film proposal sample.

26 P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

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DEVELOPMENT 27

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! %"

!

30 P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

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)1'+")-)!

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!

! &"

!

DEVELOPMENT 31

!

G,&)$!3&%:3'0!2$1&!%$!;,'?!9:('C!-$<&3&?!,'!.@$$?C!2,?,')!,'!2,0!2(@@#(/8!!F0!
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! '"

!

32 P R O D U C E R T O P R O D U C E R | R Y A N

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! ("

!

DEVELOPMENT 33

!

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